Latest from Anthony Ha
Expedia says two execs dismissed after ‘violation of company policy’
Expedia says Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, respectively its CTO and senior vice president of core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the travel booking company. In…
TechCrunch Minute: Apple uses AI to make iPhones and iPads more accessible
Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day — perfect timing for Apple to announce new features that should make iPhones and iPads more accessible for people…
Google kicked off its annual Google I/O developer conference with a big dose of AI. The company’s core AI model Gemini is getting multiple upgrades,…
TechCrunch Minute: Everything you need to know about OpenAI’s new GPT-4o model
If you’ve been following the news around OpenAI, you’ve probably seen reports that the company is working on a search product that was going to…
The company is describing the event as “a chance to demo some ChatGPT and GPT-4 updates.”
TechCrunch Minute: Streaming services are basically just cable now
The streaming world continues its transformation into the new cable bundle. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that they’ll be launching a bundle this…
It’s been a busy weekend for union organizing efforts at U.S. Apple stores, with the union at one store voting to authorize a strike, while workers at another store voted…
Bumble founder and executive chair Whitney Wolfe Herd raised eyebrows this week with her comments about how AI might change the dating experience. During an onstage interview, Bloomberg’s Emily Chang…
TechCrunch Minute: Hinge is taking Tinder’s place as Gen Z’s favorite dating app
In its latest earnings report, Match Group acknowledged growing pains for its dating app Tinder, where the paid user base shrank for the sixth quarter…
Biden administration plans $285M in CHIPS Act funding for digital twins
President Joe Biden’s administration is looking to fund efforts that improve semiconductor manufacturing by using digital twins. Digital twins are virtual models used to test and optimize physical objects and…
Bluesky’s most prominent backer has left its board. On Saturday, Jack Dorsey posted on X about grants for open protocols from his philanthropic Start Small initiative. This prompted someone to…
Threads users can now exert more control over who can quote their posts. This builds on a feature that already allows Threads users to limit who can reply to their…
TechCrunch Minute: Elon Musk’s big plans for xAI include raising $6 billion
TechCrunch recently broke the news that Elon Musk’s xAI is raising $6 billion at a pre-money valuation of $18 billion. The deal hasn’t closed yet, so the numbers could change.…
TechCrunch Minute: Rabbit’s R1 vs Humane’s Ai Pin — which had the best launch?
After a successful unveiling at CES, Rabbit is letting journalists try out the R1 — a small orange gadget with an AI-powered voice interface. This comes just weeks after the…
TechCrunch Minute: FTC bans noncompetes, court challenge incoming
The Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 this week to ban noncompete agreements. While the FTC estimates that nearly one in five American workers is subject to a noncompete, these agreements…
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this afternoon that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular social media app or see it banned in the United…
Naval Ravikant’s Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text
Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to “just talk.” A previous version of Airchat was released last year, but the team — led by AngelList founder…
BigBrain aims to bring live mobile trivia back to glory
If you ask Nik Bonaddio why he wanted to build a new mobile trivia app, his answer is simple. “In my life, I’ve got very few true passions: I love…
Daily Crunch: Europe charges Apple with antitrust breach
Apple faces an antitrust complaint in Europe, TikTok has a new CEO and YouTube TV disappears from Roku. This is your Daily Crunch for April 30, 2021. Also, this is…
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation announced in 2017 that it was forming a venture investment arm called Arrive. And the firm has been busy since then — co-founder and president Neil Sirni…
Developer-focused video platform Mux achieves unicorn status with $105M funding
Barely more than eight months after announcing a $37 million funding round, Mux has another $105 million. The Series D was led by Coatue and values the company at more…
Daily Crunch: Biden’s labor secretary says gig workers should be reclassified
The Biden administration hints at gig economy changes, Blue Origin will be taking passengers and we interview Jim Belushi about weed. This is your Daily Crunch for April 29, 2021.…
R.I.P. Madefire, a startup that recruited high-profile artists to reinvent comics for new formats and platforms. An announcement on the Madefire website states the company entered into “an assignment of…
MoviePass co-founder’s PreShow Interactive raises $3M to expand into gaming
PreShow Interactive is giving gamers a new way to earn in-game currency in exchange for watching ads — a concept that’s become familiar in mobile games but hasn’t really made…
Zynga and Rollic acquire the hyper-casual game studio behind High Heels
Last year, Zynga bought hyper-casual game maker Rollic. Today, Rollic is a Zynga subsidiary, and it’s announcing the acquisition of another game studio called Uncosoft. Like Rollic, Uncosoft develops hyper-casual…
Uber unveils half a dozen new features, Samsung announces a new flagship laptop and Zomato files to go public. This is your Daily Crunch for April 28, 2021. The big…
Near acquires the location data company formerly known as UberMedia
Data intelligence company Near is announcing the acquisition of another company in the data business — UM. In some ways, this echoes Near’s acquisition of Teemo last fall. Just as that deal…
By his own admission, Chris Thür wasn’t the most obvious person to start a music education company. Thür (previously a laser researcher) recalled an early meeting with an investor who…
Daily Crunch: Spotify adds support for paid podcasts
Spotify launches paid podcast support, Amazon announces new tablets and we unveil the agenda for TC Sessions: Mobility. This is your Daily Crunch for April 27, 2021. The big story:…
Toucan, a startup that helps users learn a new language while they browse the web, is announcing that it has raised an additional $4.5 million in seed funding. As I…